Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Benchmark in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $277.00 price objective on the railroad operator’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $233.63. The company had a trading volume of 244,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,268,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. Norfolk Southern has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $57.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $252.34 and a 200-day moving average of $232.12.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.32 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after purchasing an additional 875,473 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after purchasing an additional 577,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $103,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.